How To Make It Better: Rope (1948)

Being a series in which I prescribe amendments to films in order to improve them.

Rope is a neat little thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on a play by Patrick Hamilton. It stars James Stewart as the former teacher of two young men who decide to commit the perfect murder just to prove they can, causing Our Jimmy’s suspicions to be aroused during a dinner party his ex-students throw to put the seal on their achievement. It’s particularly notable for Hitchcock’s technical experiment, in which he creates the illusion of (almost) shooting the movie in one take…